Google searches for abortion services direct users to anti-abortion centers across the US, according to a new report that has sparked concerns from reproductive rights’ groups.

In response to the question “Where can I get an abortion near me?”, Google Maps frequently suggests “crisis pregnancy centers”, which are often non-medical facilities that provide counseling meant to discourage women from having abortions.

Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin have shifted from anti-abortion stances. If we can convince them, we can convince our families and friends

On Monday night, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar confirmed that Ireland will hold a referendum on abortion in late May. The electorate will be asked if they want to repeal or retain the eighth amendment to the constitution, which effectively bans terminations. In the case of repeal, people will also be asked to approve an addition to the constitution allowing the Oireachtas, the Irish legislature, to legislate for abortion. The government will draft legislation for unrestricted access to terminations up to 12 weeks, but this will only be voted on if the referendum passes.

Varadkar is acting on the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly, set up by his predecessor Enda Kenny, which considered balanced evidence on abortion, and voted overwhelmingly for liberalisation. He is also acting on the advice of an all-party Oireachtas committee, which reviewed the assembly’s findings. The additional constitutional clause is the recommendation of the attorney general. In significant respects, his announcements are no surprise.

Anti-abortion and pro-choice activists are gearing up for a hard-fought referendum in which the youth vote could prove key

An average of 11 women travel each day from the island of Ireland to have an abortion in England and Wales, according to the most recent Department of Health data.That adds up to more than 200,000 journeys since 1983, when the passing of the Eighth Amendment underlined the ban on abortions in the republic.

In Northern Ireland, the potential punishment for contravening the ban is even more severe. “It’s much more difficult even to have a conversation about abortion in Belfast,” says Jess Brien, a 25-year-old pro-choice campaigner who lives in Northern Ireland’s capital, “because the maximum sentence for having one here is life imprisonment.”

Cabinet set to give go-ahead for referendum as poll signals most Irish people favour liberalisation

A clear majority of Irish people would vote in favour of liberalising the country’s abortion laws and allowing terminations on request up to 12 weeks, according to a poll released as the cabinet prepares to meet to hammer out details of a referendum on the issue.

In response to the question “Will you vote to change the constitution so that the government can legislate for abortion up to 12 weeks, or will you vote not to change the constitution?”, 56% said they would vote in favour, 29% said they would vote against, and 15% said they did not know or offered no opinion.

On the 45th anniversary of Roe v Wade, the ACLU decries ‘shocking’ attempts to prevent migrants in detention from seeking treatment

The Trump administration is engaging in the most flagrant violation yet seen of the constitutional right to an abortion by preventing undocumented women held in detention centers from seeking medical treatment, constitutional lawyers have warned.

On this week’s 45th anniversary of supreme court’s landmark Roe v Wade ruling, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have accused Trump-appointed officials of in effect holding pregnant women hostage in order to stop them reaching abortion clinics. Four cases in which women have been blocked have so far been confirmed, provoking a flurry of legal challenges, while the total number denied their constitutional rights could be much higher.

On the 45th anniversary of Roe v Wade, it’s time to highlight a hidden truth: restricting abortion means more maternal deaths

Ever since the anti-abortion movement claimed the “pro-life” label in the 1970s, the battle over reproductive rights has taken an apocalyptic tone. If the anti-abortion side is pro-life, then the other side – the millions of women who rally every January to keep abortion legal and safe – must be composed of the gaunt, gray-winged handmaidens of death.

This polarizing rhetoric turns every clash between the two sides into a prelude to Armageddon, the final showdown between life and death, good and evil. When charged with caring only for life in its fetal form, the anti-abortion side hoists its mythological claim that abortion is a risk factor for breast cancer, lifelong depression and suicide. Thus they can say that they do not only save fetal lives, but the lives of the women who carry these fetuses.